"Of all the promises made to the patriarchs it was that of the land that was the most prominent and decisive."
By one scholar's count, "land" is the forth most frequent or substantive noun in the Tanak (Torah). He notes that it is more dominant statistically than the idea of covenant. More than one thousand times the land ("eretz") of Israel is either stated or implied. Of the 250 times that "covenant" (brit) is mentioned, in 70 percent of those instances (177 times) "covenant" is either directly or indirectly connected to the land of Israel. Of the 74 times that brit appears in the Torah, 73 percent of those times (54) include the gift of the land, either explicitly or implicitly. In other words, when the biblical God calls out a people for Himself, he does so in an earthly way, by making the gift of particular land an integral aspect of that calling. [1]
Soulen has observed,
“As the story of the Exodus shows, God's curse does not necessarily fall upon all parties in equal measure. God can single out the nations for curse, according to the saying, “The one who curses you I will curse” (Genesis 12:3). The Scriptures return often to two negative images of the Gentiles: as idolaters and as blood enemies of Israel and Israel's God. These two negative characteristics are joined at the root, because both stem from the nation's rejection of the truth that the Lord, the God of Israel, is God. Because this truth is manifest for all to see in the works of the Lord on Israel's behalf and in creation (Psalms 117, 126), the Gentiles are without excuse. They cannot claim to be idolaters and enemies of Israel “by nature.” Rather, the nations become these things historically because of their unwillingness to accept God's blessings in solidarity with the people of Israel.” [2]
[1]("The New Christian Zionism: Fresh Perspectives on Israel and the Land" - Craig Blaising, Darrell Bock, David Rudolph, Joel Willitts & others. 2016, Ch 2, "A History of Christian Zionism," 48-49. Inter Varsity Press)
[2] Soulen, Kendall R., "The God of Israel and Christian Theology." 1996, Augsburg Fortress Publishers, 426 S. Fifth St, Box 1209, Minneapolis, MN (55440),. Chapter 7, “The Scriptures: Curse And Redemption, 145.)
_________________ David Winter
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